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8/8/2022

U.S. Treasury Sanctions Notorious Virtual Currency Mixer Tornado Cash | U.S. Department of the Treasury

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Notorious Virtual Currency Mixer
Tornado Cash
August 8, 2022

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasuryʼs O ice of Foreign Assets Control
(OFAC) sanctioned virtual currency mixer Tornado Cash, which has been used to launder more
than $7 billion worth of virtual currency since its creation in 2019. This includes over $455
million stolen by the Lazarus Group, a Democratic Peopleʼs Republic of Korea (DPRK) statesponsored hacking group that was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2019, in the largest known virtual
currency heist to date. Tornado Cash was subsequently used to launder more than $96 million
of malicious cyber actorsʼ funds derived from the June 24, 2022 Harmony Bridge Heist, and at
least $7.8 million from the August 2, 2022 Nomad Heist. Todayʼs action is being taken
pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13694, as amended, and follows OFACʼs May 6, 2022
designation of virtual currency mixer Blender.io (Blender).
“Today, Treasury is sanctioning Tornado Cash, a virtual currency mixer that launders the
proceeds of cybercrimes, including those committed against victims in the United States,”
said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson.
“Despite public assurances otherwise, Tornado Cash has repeatedly failed to impose e ective
controls designed to stop it from laundering funds for malicious cyber actors on a regular
basis and without basic measures to address its risks. Treasury will continue to aggressively
pursue actions against mixers that launder virtual currency for criminals and those who assist
them.”
Treasury has worked to expose components of the virtual currency ecosystem, like Tornado
Cash and Blender.io, that cybercriminals use to obfuscate the proceeds from illicit cyber
activity and other crimes. While most virtual currency activity is licit, it can be used for illicit
activity, including sanctions evasion through mixers, peer-to-peer exchangers, darknet
markets, and exchanges. This includes the facilitation of heists, ransomware schemes, fraud,
and other cybercrimes. Treasury continues to use its authorities against malicious cyber
actors in concert with other U.S. departments and agencies, as well as foreign partners, to
expose, disrupt, and hold accountable perpetrators and persons that enable criminals to profit
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U.S. Treasury Sanctions Notorious Virtual Currency Mixer Tornado Cash | U.S. Department of the Treasury

from cybercrime and other illicit activity. For example, in 2020, Treasuryʼs Financial Crimes
Enforcement Network (FinCEN) assessed a $60 million civil money penalty

against the

owner and operator of a virtual currency mixer for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA)
and its implementing regulations.

MIXER: TORNADO CASH
Tornado Cash (Tornado) is a virtual currency mixer that operates on the Ethereum blockchain
and indiscriminately facilitates anonymous transactions by obfuscating their origin,
destination, and counterparties, with no attempt to determine their origin. Tornado receives
a variety of transactions and mixes them together before transmitting them to their
individual recipients. While the purported purpose is to increase privacy, mixers like Tornado
are commonly used by illicit actors to launder funds, especially those stolen during significant
heists.
Tornado is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13694, as amended, for having materially
assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or
services to or in support of, a cyber-enabled activity originating from, or directed by persons
located, in whole or in substantial part, outside the United States that is reasonably likely to
result in, or has materially contributed to, a significant threat to the national security, foreign
policy, or economic health or financial stability of the United States and that has the purpose
or e ect of causing a significant misappropriation of funds or economic resources, trade
secrets, personal identifiers, or financial information for commercial or competitive advantage
or private financial gain.

ILLICIT F INANCE RISKS
Virtual currency mixers that assist criminals are a threat to U.S. national security. Treasury will
continue to investigate the use of mixers for illicit purposes and use its authorities to respond
to illicit financing risks in the virtual currency ecosystem
Criminals have increased their use of anonymity-enhancing technologies, including mixers, to
help hide the movement or origin of funds. Additional information on illicit financing risks
associated with mixers and other anonymity-enhancing technologies in the virtual asset
ecosystem can be found in the 2022 National Money Laundering Risk Assessment

.

Those in the virtual currency industry play a critical role in complying with their Anti-Money
Laundering /Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) and sanctions obligations to
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U.S. Treasury Sanctions Notorious Virtual Currency Mixer Tornado Cash | U.S. Department of the Treasury

prevent sanctioned persons and other illicit actors from exploiting virtual currency to
undermine U.S foreign policy and national security interests. As part of that e ort, the
industry should take a risk-based approach to assess the risk associated with di erent virtual
currency services, implement measures to mitigate risks, and address the challenges
anonymizing features can present to compliance with AML/CFT obligations. As todayʼs action
demonstrates, mixers should in general be considered as high-risk by virtual currency firms,
which should only process transactions if they have appropriate controls in place to prevent
mixers from being used to launder illicit proceeds.

SANCT IONS IMPLICAT IONS
As a result of todayʼs action, all property and interests in property of the entity above,
Tornado Cash, that is in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons is
blocked and must be reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or
indirectly, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. All
transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any
property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked persons are prohibited
unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or exempt. These
prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services
by, to, or for the benefit of any blocked person and the receipt of any contribution or provision
of funds, goods, or services from any such person.
The power and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not only from OFACʼs ability to designate
and add persons to the SDN List, but also from its willingness to remove persons from the
SDN List consistent with the law. The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring
about a positive change in behavior. For information concerning the process for seeking
removal from an OFAC list, including the SDN List, please refer to OFACʼs Frequently Asked
Question 897 here. For detailed information on the process to submit a request for removal
from an OFAC sanctions list, click here.
For identifying information on the entity sanctioned today, as well as associated virtual wallet
addresses, click here.
To report a cyber-crime, contact the Federal Bureau of Investigationʼs Internet Crime
Complaint Center here.
For the U.S. governmentʼs 2020 DPRK Cyber Threat Advisory, click here.
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U.S. Treasury Sanctions Notorious Virtual Currency Mixer Tornado Cash | U.S. Department of the Treasury

For information on complying with virtual currency sanctions, see OFACʼs Sanctions
Compliance Guidance for the Virtual Currency Industry here

and OFACʼs FAQs on virtual

currency here.
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